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Old 10-12-2017, 10:24 PM   #5
Lowell Mather 5150
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassembler View Post
I second this - in ~30 years with PCs, about half my blue screens have been caused by bad RAM modules (but not necessarily mismached modules, just RAM in general. My point is it's already a sensitive part of the system).

Mismached RAM modules, while theoretically stable, are a variable you don't want to deal with if your PC starts crapping on your sessions. [Edit: it doesn't hurt to try, may well be fine, but at the first sign of trouble, I'd yank it out]

If you don't care about overclocking, I've never noticed any material difference in RAM quality. I recommend you sacrifice and get a 16GB kit, can be had for $90-130 or so (assuming DDR3, DDR4 will be more).

Side note, I've also never noticed a real difference on dual vs single channel, but I've also never done a proper A vs B test.

[Edit 2: Also, what are the specs of your system? There may be other bottlenecks with more bang for the buck]
[Edit 3: To answer your question, if your only choice is 2x4GB mismached in dual or 1x4 and 1x8 in single, go 1x4 and 1x8 in single; I would expect it to be more stable]

$0.02
If there are other bottlenecks, they are what they are for the moment: RAM and, possibly - SSD are the only upgrades I can afford. To answer your question, an i3 with a 7200 rpm 1TB drive.

Now, you say if "my only choice is" 2x4GB mismatched in dual (how are they mismatched - I thought 2x4GB indicates matched, no?), or are you saying because I would be ordering from a different manufacturer, they aren't OEM, etc., that they would not be matched?

Believe me, I would love to be able to go 16GB, and price is the major sway, along with, I didn't break a sweat with 8MB RAM before. But I do own some more powerful processors and vsti's now, maybe 16GB is the only way to go? Not sure in that regard.

Even if this was a purely hypothetical exercise, I wanted to know if 12 unmatched (4+8=12 single channel) would outperform 8 matched (i.e., 4+4=8 dual channel), or if the opposite would be true. Again, this is only speaking from real world DAW performance.

WolfJames seems to be saying that the more RAM the better, dual channel or no.
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